‘Kong’ King In $81.6M Offshore Bow; ‘Logan’ Leaps To $437M Global Intl Box Office – Deadline

UPDATE, WRITETHRU 3:54 PM PT: Warner Bros/Legendarys Kong: Skull Island stomped into offshore play this weekend, planting an $81.6M footprint at the international box office. The Great Ape roared on 20,400 screens in 65 markets and ranked No. 1 in most majors including the UK, Korea, Russia, France and Germany. The global cume is $142.6M.

The gorilla also faced off with the Wolverine in most markets as last weeks champ Logan shredded another $70.3M for an overseas cume of $285.6M ($436.6M worldwide). The sophomore offshore frame reps a 56% drop from open with Fox/Marvels well-reviewed R-rated pic tracking nicely versus other X-Men titles.

WB

At least one rival distributor calls it a very good launch considering Logans sharp claws. However, some saw it opening higher, saying its good, not great. That $185M production budget and estimated $136M P&A are casting a cloud on potential profitability, as my colleague Anthony DAlessandro has noted.

While both Kong and Logan should have muscular legs, the hirsute duo will be joined by a Disney-haloed Beauty And The Beast in global play next frame. Different demos, but the anticipated live-action pic is expected to be a monster and is opening in most majors, including China, but not France and Japan. Kong doesnt beat his chest in China and Japan until March 24 and 25, respectively. Those were the top plays on 2014s Godzilla, and Kong has comped well against that film in some markets already.

Logan, which is waiting until June for Japan, is currently in 79 markets with an overall 2nd frame thats 20% bigger than X-Men: Apocalypse and 10% behind X-Men: Days Of Future Past at current exchange rates. With $5.9M in Brazil this session, Logan provided Fox with its biggest second weekend ever in the market. In China, the James Mangold-directed threequel is headed towards a phenomenal $90M. But it did lose some ground this frame to Amblins A Dogs Purpose which overtook the No. 1 slot in its 2nd walk around the Middle Kingdom block.

Universal

In other notable performances, Lionsgates La La Land broke the 30M milestone in the UK this weekend to become bigger than three of the Twilight movies and two of the Hunger Games films. Also, Sonys Resident Evil: The Final Chapter crossed $300M worldwide and Disneys Moana opened in Japan, getting ready to sail across $600M global.

Breakdowns on the above and more have been updated below.

NEW KONG: SKULL ISLAND

Warner Bros

In IMAX, Kong grossed $12.4M globally from 674 screens in 63 markets. Its the 2nd biggest global March opening ever in the format without China. With $4.8M internationally, Kong is the 4th all-time biggest March bow and the 2nd highest sans the Middle Kingdom.

Overall, despite competition from last weeks champ, Logan, Kong ranked No. 1 in most majors including the UK, Korea, Russia, France and Germany. Logan retained No. 1 notably in Brazil.

Looking back, 2005s King Kong minted more than $332M abroad, opening to $83M in a December bow (the UK, France and Korea led markets); and 2014s Godzilla debuted to $103M abroad and finaled at $328.4M overseas led by China, Japan and the UK. Another major offshore comp title is 2013s Pacific Rim which made about 36% of its full $309M overseas gross in China with Russia and Korea also big fans. WB is also pointing to its own Mad Max: Fury Road which in 2015 grossed $225M overseas led by Korea, the UK and Australia.

This weekend, Kong landed on top of Pacific Rim and Fury Road in Europe. In Asia, where the Jordan Vogt-Roberts-helmed movie has resonated with audiences, the regional haul is $27.1M. That includes Vietnam where it scored the biggest opening weekend of all time (the film was partially shot there as well). Despite coming in at No. 2 behind Logan in Brazil, Kong topped comp Godzilla in nearly all Latin American markets. As a region, the Tom Hiddleston/Brie Larson-starrer bested Pacific Rim and Fury Road.

The top offshore market on Skull Island is currently the UK with $7.6M on 1,268 screens and 50% of the Top 5 market share. WB has the action adventure tracking 17% ahead of Godzilla, 59% ahead of Mad Max: Fury Road and triple the opening weekend of Pacific Rim.

Korea opened to $7.3M on 980 screens, more than doubling the opening of Logan and coming in 90% higher than Godzilla. At $6M, Russia bowed 19% bigger than Pacific Rim and 16% over Godzilla. This was a top market on Pac Rim. Mexico opened with $5.6M on 2,691 screens, outperforming Pac Rim by 54% and even with Godzilla. In France, Kong scaled $4M on 541 screens, capturing 33% of the Top 5 films.

In Taiwan, the gorilla saw a 101% increase from Friday to Saturday and ended the weekend with $3.6M on 271 screens, outperforming all comps. Australia has a holiday coming up in several areas and started off with $3.5M on 524 screens. Germany saw $3.2M turn up on the Island with 792 screens generating 40% of the Top 5 and double the start of Pac Rim.

Malaysia gave the ape a $2.6M welcome on 520 screens, topping all comps and making for WBs 2nd biggest opening ever behind Batman V Superman. Its also the top start of 2017. In Brazil, Logan dug its claws into the top spot with Kong at No. 2 on 915 screens for $3.4M. Its 11% ahead of Godzilla there.

Also notable, Vietnam, which figures in the pic, gave Kong the biggest opening weekend of all time with $2.2M on 377 screens. Spain bested Godzilla by 60% with $1.6M on 413 and Italy had the highest per-screen average on 491 for $1.5M.

China and Japan are due next on March 24 and 25, respectively. In the next frame, the major competition comes from another hairy player with Beauty And The Beast debuting day-and-date.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS LOGAN

20th Century Fox

Despite 14 minutes of cuts and a parental advisory, Logan is nearing $90M in China. The 2nd frame saw it dip to No. 2 as Amblin/Universals A Dogs Purpose benefited from the involvement of Alibaba Pictures locally and the markets love for canines and pawed its way to No. 1 this session. Nevertheless, Logan added $18.6M for an $87.6M cume thats 17% bigger than Days Of Future Past at the same point. That film ended at $116.5M in the Middle Kingdom.

In Brazil, Logan held his grip on No. 1 with a 29% dip for $5.92M and Foxs biggest second weekend ever in the market. The cume there is $18.2M. The UK added $4.9M for $21.1M to date and with a 2nd frame thats 11% bigger than DOFP. Korea dipped 35% for a total $13.2M with Australia now at $11.3M. Russia is another top play with $13.9M to date and running 31% bigger than DOFP and 34% better than Apocalypse.

In total, the current international cume is 1% higher than DOFP and 3.6% over Apocalypse through the same point in release. Next weekend will see increased competition from newcomer Beauty And The Beast while Kong looks to keep beating the drum. Japan bows Logan on June 1.

A DOGS PURPOSE

Universal Pictures

Of that, an estimated $21M comes from China. Thats a 24% increase over last frame and lifts the total in the market to $52M. Released locally by Huaxia, its also the first film from Amblin since Alibaba Pictures took a minority equity stake in Steven Spielbergs company. Under the deal, the production arm of Jack Mas China e-commerce giant will team with Amblin to co-produce and finance films for global and Chinese audiences, and collaborate on the marketing, distribution and merchandising of Amblins movies in the PROC.

Chinese audiences love dogs and movies about dogs Hallstroms 2009 film Hachi: A Dogs Tale (never released theatrically in the U.S.) is very popular there and this film was marketed direct to pet owners both on- and offline. Alibabas Tao Piaopiao is the principal ticketing platform for the film, and the company organized a series of dog adoption activities in cinemas and shopping malls across the country. There were also special screenings with audience members bringing along their pets to watch the movie together. This echoes screenings of The Secret Life Of Pets in Tel Aviv last year which were also attended by furry companions. Word of mouth spread to give the film the highest scores this year on Tao Piaopiao and Maoyan.com.

The modestly-budgeted ($22M before P&A) film has now reached $140.5M worldwide, despite the disturbing video and fallout earlier this year. Universal is distributing in 20 territories and Mister Smith has the rest of offshore. There are three more releases: Trinidad March 15; Russia March 30 and Japan September 23.

LA LA LAND La La Land

Lionsgate

MOANA

Disney

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER Passing $300M worldwide, Screen Gems/Constantins sixth franchise installment delivered $6.5M this weekend from over 4,200 screens in 34 markets. That lifts the international cume to $280.2M for a global total of $306.9M.

SING Illumination and Universals Sing put another $5.7M in the coffers from 39 territories this weekend, for an international total of $309M. Worldwide, the animated pic is now at $577.7M. In the 2nd frame, Russia held at No. 3 for an 11-day total of $13.8M. In China, the pic is No. 6 in week 4 with a 24-day total of $29.4M. Japan releases this Friday to close out the show.

FIFTY SHADES DARKER With another $5.2M in the playroom, Universals S&M fest now has a $255.9M cume in 57 territories. Globally, its cuffed $368.8M. There were no new openings this weekend while Germany continues to show its affinity for Ana and Christian with a total $30.4M to date and a No. 3 hold. Behind Germany in the Top 5 are the UK with $28.4M, France at $23.2M, Brazils $20.6M and Italys $15.8M. Still to come are the UAE on March 23 and Japan on June 23.

HIDDEN FIGURES

Hopper Stone

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Sony

LOCAL-LANGUAGE

Dharma Productions

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'Kong' King In $81.6M Offshore Bow; 'Logan' Leaps To $437M Global Intl Box Office - Deadline